Sean Carberry
Sean Carberry is NPR's international correspondent based in Kabul. His work can be heard on all of NPR's award-winning programs, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition.
Prior to moving into his current role, he was responsible for producing for NPR's foreign correspondents in the Middle East and "fill-in" reporting. Carberry travels extensively across the Middle East to cover a range of stories such as the impact of electricity shortages on the economy in Afghanistan and the experiences of Syrian refugees in Turkish camps.
Carberry has reported from more than two-dozen countries including Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, and Iceland. In 2010, Carberry won the Gabriel Award Certificate of Merit for America Abroad's "The First Freedom," and in 2011 was awarded the Sigma Delta Chi Award as lead producer and correspondent for America Abroad's series, "The Arab World's Demographic Dilemma."
Since joining NPR, Carberry worked with Lourdes Garcia-Navarro in Tripoli for NPR's coverage of the fall of the Libyan capital. He also covered the post-US withdrawal political crisis in Baghdad in December 2011, and recently completed a two month fill-in reporting assignment in Kabul that led to his current role.
Before coming to NPR in 2011, Carberry worked at America Abroad Media where he served as technical director and senior producer in addition to traveling internationally to report and produce radio and multimedia content for America Abroad's monthly radio news documentaries and website. He also worked at NPR Member Station WBUR in Boston as a field and political producer, associate producer/technical director, and reporter, contributing to NPR, newscasts, and WBUR's Here and Now.
In addition to his journalistic accolades, Carberry is a well-rounded individual who has also been an assistant professor of music production and engineering at Berklee College of Music in Boston, received a Gold Record as Recording Engineer for Susan Tedeschi's Grammy-Nominated album "Just Won't Burn," engineered music for the television program "Sex in the City," is a certified SCUBA diver, and is a graduate of the Skip Barber School of Auto Racing.
Carberry earned a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from Lehigh University and a Masters of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, with a focus in Politics, National Security, and International Affairs.
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After decades of war in Afghanistan, the country has thousands of orphans. One home for these children ended up with an improbable benefactor — an Iranian-American who came to Kabul to do rule of law development work, and stumbled into a side project working with disabled orphans. -
In 2000, Auliya Atrafi paid thousands of dollars and risked his life to escape Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. He spent 12 years in England, but recently returned to his homeland, where he is trying to readjust to — and change — life in a conservative society.
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Afghanistan is a poor country with very expensive weddings. There is no alcohol, the sexes are completely segregated, and the families may negotiate over the dowry right up to the last minute. -
The onset of winter in Afghanistan usually means an end to the so-called fighting season. That may not hold this year as the Taliban vow to pursue an aggressive campaign in advance of a presidential election. -
Opium poppy cultivation has hit a record level, according to a new U.N. report. Western countries have been trying to eradicate the poppies for years. Yet it remains the single largest economic sector in places like the southern province of Helmand. -
Under the Taliban, 1 million Afghan boys and very few girls went to school. Now, 10 million students are enrolled, 40 percent of them female. But on any given day, a much smaller number actually shows up for class. What's more, there are shortages of classrooms, books and qualified teachers. -
Afghanistan hopes to reach an important milestone next spring with its first democratic transfer of power. Many familiar faces are vying for the presidency, including a number of powerful warlords. The race will be more about personalities and power bases than policies and political platforms. -
From furry handcuffs to a toy bunny that a couple once shared, the Museum of Broken Relationships is filled with artifacts of romances that didn't quite work out. -
As the deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan approaches, Afghans have taken over the lead combat role in places like restive Helmand province. But U.S. forces are still engaged in major training efforts to make sure the Afghan-led security is sustainable. -
Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have been tense for years. A recent soccer game seemed to ease the friction, at least temporarily.
